This invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing merchandise bags interconnected at their open ends.
In one known method of making shopping bags, thermoplastic material is extruded to form a longitudinal tube of film which is flattened and made into individual bags, with or without side gussets, by forming spaced apart transverse seals across the tube. Each bag is then subjected to punching and cutting operations to impart the desired shape to the bag, to form handle openings and to cut the tube into individual bags.
Shopping bags are sometimes supplied in packs in which the bags are detachably connected, and the packs are suspended on supporting racks from which the bags are removed one bag at a time. Such bag pack supporting systems are disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,473 and my pending application, Ser. No. 768,996, filed Sep. 30, 1991. In some conventional bag pack supporting systems, the bags in the pack are provided with detachable tabs having aligned holes, and the supporting rack is provided with supporting arms or hooks for receiving the holes in the bags to support the pack, the bags being dispensed by detaching the bags from the tabs, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639.